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Photo by Hendi Kaf,
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  #1  
Old 20 Feb 2008
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Which Gps??

anyone have agood advice on which GPS i shoud get?. i do lots of on-road riding and a bit of off-road. probabaly going to get more off-road this year plus i'll probably be using it in Canada as well as taking it to Australia whne i go.

there is alot to choose from and i dont know where to start. i want one fairly advanced with detailed maps and directions. C400$ range possible??

thanks alot.
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  #2  
Old 22 Feb 2008
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I use a Garmin 60 CSX, very rugged and reliable, i know a couple of commercial trail riding companys who use either them or just the 60CX.

I use mine more for off road but as it also has a 2 gig SD card onto which I have European City Navigator v9 loaded so it can work like more road orientated GPS and satnav products like say a Garmin Zumo (which i don't think would be much good for off road use). Gives you directions, petrol stations, hotels, banks, retaurants info etc. i presume you'll be ableto get the same type info for the areas you want.

I won't bother with the more basic models with just a black and white screen as it makes it much harder to understand. Personally i also don't like the etrex series as the main toggle switch always seems to play up after a while.
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  #3  
Old 22 Feb 2008
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a vote for the 276C

I've been very happy with my Garmin 276C. I often use it off the bike on battery power, and the screen size works well for my old eyes. I use a Touratech "off road" mount (locking).

The biggest downside is that is uses Garmin-only data cards, which are VERY expensive compared to common flash cards. The POI database is very good for the US & Canada, I invested in the Smellybiker maps for my upcoming Ushuaia to Deadhorse trip...

Eric

Moto Americas
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  #4  
Old 23 Feb 2008
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Hi there,

i use a garmin 60Cx (bought, tried and sold 278C), an this is why:
+it uses 2x AA penlite batteries, which you can get anywhere. so you don't have to depend on bike power or power converter/batterij loader.
+power consumption is low
+it solid, fairly compact /light / waterproof etc.
+it has standard micro SD memory, cheap, widely available
+excellent gps signal sensitivity (SIRF3)
+cheap 2nd hand
+can be used as USB mass storage device
+ideal for on-bike and off-bike GPS usage (hiking, city trips etc.)

nearly forgot:

+you can use custom maps like smelly bikers. can't do that on a 276 or 278 without expensive Garmin memory cards..

but:
-a bit slow processor
-small screen
-light intensity of display
-doesn't load batteries when 12V powered on bike
-bit quirky route calculation, especially when using routes made om Streetpilot or 27x series.

negative point are no problem when traveling, but might be a problem with off/allroad rallies and other fast driving conditions.

cheers,
Sander
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  #5  
Old 23 Feb 2008
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wicked, thaks for the help, definately what i needed to know. wish i would have had a GPS whne i went to mexico, would have made life alot simpler.

where is the best place on line to purchase one? i'm going to look on ebay tonight now that i know which model to keep my eye on.
how much shoud i expect to pay? i'll check out the garmin 60cx.

and this is kind of a dumb question, but where is ushuaia? i here it mentioned alot son here and have never heard of it.
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  #6  
Old 23 Feb 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raythebutcher View Post
wicked, thaks for the help, definately what i needed to know. wish i would have had a GPS whne i went to mexico, would have made life alot simpler.

where is the best place on line to purchase one? i'm going to look on ebay tonight now that i know which model to keep my eye on.
how much shoud i expect to pay? i'll check out the garmin 60cx.

and this is kind of a dumb question, but where is ushuaia? i here it mentioned alot son here and have never heard of it.

Garmin GPS, Magellan GPS, TomTom GPS, Mio GPS, Nokia GPS Central Canada GPS Sales

Garmin - On the Road - Signal Systems

I haven't used either company , but they both have a good selection at keen prices .

As for Ushuaia , yes that is indeed a mystery .
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  #7  
Old 23 Feb 2008
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Ushuaia...

is in Argentina. It's the southernmost city in the world (that you can ride to).

my route is shown here;

Moto Americas
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  #8  
Old 24 Feb 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GsGrins View Post
is in Argentina. It's the southernmost city in the world (that you can ride to).

my route is shown here;

Moto Americas
Bit OT but now that I'm here I might as well ask you. On your blog, how do you get you photo's to fit the very narrow post width?
Mine are automatically cropped, and I would love to find out if you can widen your post body width, but don't thing you can. So I gues there is a limited pixel width for pictures.
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  #9  
Old 24 Feb 2008
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I wish I had some super-techy answer, but on my blog template I just select the size (sm, md, lg) and the image is sized for me. Then I select location, left, right...center will wrap text...

I hope that helps (but probably not...)

Eric

Moto Americas
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  #10  
Old 24 Feb 2008
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Righto. I'm going to be mobile blogging which doesn't give you that option. I'll have to keep looking. The help menu is pretty bad on blogger. Cheers though
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  #11  
Old 18 Mar 2008
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which gps

Hi Ray

just a few thoughts on the gps issue, i used a garmin gps 5 through africa and off road in Australia , its a very dated now by todays standards, but back then it was a fairly good deal with auto routing and takes aa batterys.
Pros are-
Tough unit
takes aa batterys
auto routing
runs on bike power
bread crum trail (very important in my view)
price

some of the cons were ,
small b/w screen
shook the batterys to bits if left in the gps while in the TT bracket
entering data was slow
no expandable memory

But all up a reliable and robust unit i still have.

Also have a Garmin Rino which has a uhf radio built in which could be helpfull in the outback in a safety point of view. As it came with the bike i am considering selling it and getting something for canada , but am still very lost , the garmin zumo looks great on road but just a block with a shiny screen off road.
Cheers MotoGaz
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  #12  
Old 18 Mar 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Galloping Gazza View Post
Hi Ray
the garmin zumo looks great on road but just a block with a shiny screen off road.
Cheers MotoGaz
Gaz, wouldn't that depend on what maps are loaded? Can't you follow Shonky trails or download other traveller's breadcrumbs?

Garry from Oz.
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  #13  
Old 18 Mar 2008
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bread crumbs

Hi Gaz
I would reckon one could load other garmin maps on a zumo but still do not know if the zumo has a bread crumb trail- anyone out there know.
will start a new thread in gps about this,
cheers
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  #14  
Old 1 Apr 2008
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Hi Ray,

I bought my Garmin 60Cx from Dubai from the official Garmin distributor there (just go to Garmin site) if you can arrange to get it from there it would be a lot cheaper at 300 Euro the package included:


1- Unit plus the usual
2- Car stand
3- Lighter connection

All this for 300 Euros while in europe it would cost 600 Euros one year ago.

Happy Travels,

Che
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  #15  
Old 12 Apr 2008
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Garmin 60cx, very gd had a Quest, thisis better, screen clearer and nice colour display, ability to work with mapsource easy.Uses 2 AA batt's, which last ages, Recommend! bought from ebay.com (usa) in live in UK.
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